Kazys Lozoraitis

Kazys Lozoraitis (July 23 1929-August 13 2007) was a prominent Lithuanian diplomat and cultural activist. He was the first ambassador of Lithuania to the Holy See and to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. On 2007 August 13 he died in Rome.

Biography

Kazys Lozoraitis was born into a family of diplomats and politicians in Berlin in 1929. In 1933 he moved with his family to Lithuania. Soon afterwards, his father was appointed to a new position in Italy, and the family moved to Rome. In Rome he finished gymnasium (preparatory school) and then studied journalism. He worked for over ten years at Radio Italia, and began working for Radio Vatican in 1972. In 1960 he was appointed secretary of the chief of the Lithuanian diplomatic service in exile, as Lithuania was then occupied by the Soviet Union. Between 1985 and 1992 he served as Head of the Chancellery of Lithuanian Representation to the Holy See; after 1980 he served as vice-chairman of the Italian Lithuanian Community.

In 1992 Kazys Lozoraitis was accredited as the Lithuanian Ambassador to the Holy See; two years later he was named Lithuanian Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Maltese Order, becoming the first person to hold these positions after the re-establishment of Lithuania's independence in 1990. He held this post until 2004. Kazys Lozoraitis was active in the cultural life of both Lithuania and Italy. In 2007 he donated his family’s personal library, consisting of more than 16,000 publications, to the Martynas Mažvyas National Library of Lithuania; he also donated his unique collection of historic photographs and records to the museum at the Historical Presidential Palace in Kaunas. [Delfi.lt [http://whatson.delfi.lt/archive/article.php?id=13347161 Į Lietuvą pargabenta Lozoraičių šeimos biblioteka] . Retrieved on 2007-08-22] Kazys Lozoraitis died on August 13, 2007, in Rome, of cancer. He was temporarily interred in Rome, but since one of his last wishes was to be buried in Lithuania, arrangements were made for his reburial in Kaunas. The President of Lithuania, Valdas Adamkus, issued his condolences:

cquote| Kazys Lozoratis dedicated his life in Italy to serve Lithuania. Throughout the long decades of living far away from his homeland, he had never left it either in his thoughts or deeds. Lozoraitis’ work at the Vatican Radio and the performance of his diplomatic duties consolidated the bridges built by the Lozoraitis family from Rome, the Holy See and Washington to Lithuania.

In my memory, Kazys Lozoraitis will forever remain a prominent figure, a person of noble soul, a great patriot of Lithuania and fighter for its independence whose family had always held their doors open to Lithuania. [President of the Republic of Lithuania. [http://www.president.lt/en/news.full/8159 President Adamkus: Passing of Kazys Lozoraitis is a Great Loss to Lithuania] . Retrieved on 2007-08-22]

On 2007 September 20 Kazys Lozoraitis was reburied in Kaunas' Petrašiūnai Cemetery, near his brother's grave. Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus, as well as other prominent Lithuanian politicians like Vytautas Landsbergis, attended the ceremony.

Awards

Kazys Lozoraitis was awarded several decorations:

*Grand Cross of Commander of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas
*Grand Cross of the Order for Merits to Lithuania.
*Chevalier of the Order of St. Sylvester.

ee also

*Stasys Lozoraitis
*Stasys Lozoraitis (junior)

Notes

References

* [http://www.kaunodiena.lt/lt/?id=6&aid=43948 Lietuvos prezidentai išsaugotose relikvijose] . Biography by Žilvinė Petrauskaitė. Retrieved on 2007-08-22
* [http://www.urm.lt/index.php?1864086227 Press Releases] . Obituary issued by the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Retrieved on 2007-08-22